VEN Blog

Graph from ECIU report The future is green: The economic opportunities brought by the UK’s net zero economy Ed Miliband visits Beijing as part of plan to create global axis working in favour of climate action Ed Miliband: ‘The global battle against the climate crisis needs China’ Fiona Harvey Environment editor Fri 14 Mar 2025 […]

Figure 1. Breakdown of Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Deforestation accounts for about 11% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. This is a significant driver of climate change, accounting for more emissions than the entire United States economy. Climate change is more than smokestacks and tailpipes. While the use of polluting fossil fuels is the biggest […]

Extended Data Fig. 2: Global distribution of CIM in 2050 under the best-case and worst-case scenarios under RCP 4.5. (a) best-case scenario estimated at the global scale, (b) worst-case scenario estimated at the global scale From: Strategic planning could reduce farm-scale mariculture impacts on marine biodiversity while expanding seafood production A new study says the answer […]

Graph Source: GMU Center for Climate Change Communication Climate psychology has come a long way. And it has a long way to go By Mark Harris It happens every day. A friend or colleague talks enthusiastically about buying a new gas car, or shivers theatrically on a chilly day and says: “So much for global […]

Why fear of billion-dollar lawsuits stops countries phasing out fossil fuels Companies can sue governments for closing oilfields and mines – and the risk of huge damages is already stopping countries from passing green laws, ministers say Phoebe Weston and Patrick Greenfield Thu 6 Mar 2025 in The Guardian In the mountains of Transylvania, a […]

Image: government interactive map Australia’s oldest commercial wind farm to close as cost of repowering is too high Image: Pacific Blue Rachel Williamson Feb 10, 2025 RENEWABLES, WIND In a first clue as to what might be the future for some ageing wind farms sites, renewable energy company Pacific Blue says it will not repower […]

Patrick Greenfield in the Guardian newsletter Last week, countries signed off a hard-won compromise on nature finance after marathon negotiations in Rome, finally bringing biodiversity Cop16 meetings to an end. In November, the UN nature summit was suspended in disarray after negotiators ran out of time to complete their work in Cali, Colombia. They needed […]

Image: Fukushima nuclear plume mapped over Mt Piper with wind conditions carrying radiation all the way over Sydney Today is the 14th anniversary of the Fukushima disaster, and this morning Don’t Nuke the Climate released a huge research project that shows what a Fukushima-style nuclear disaster would look like if it happened at one of Dutton’s seven […]

Health in National Tribune 3 Mar 2025 EnergyScience Coalition A new report by the EnergyScience Coalition corrects false claims by the federal Coalition and others that ‘the world is going nuclear’. Co-authors Assoc. Prof. Darrin Durant, Prof. Jim Falk and Dr. Jim Green note that: The number of operating power reactors worldwide has fallen to […]

Tax credits will be awarded on delivery. By political reporter Tom Lowrey Tue 11 Feb in abcnews IMAGE IN ORIGINAL ARTICLE Critical minerals producers will be able to claim a credit priced at 10 per cent of the costs of processing and refining minerals. (Supplied: Vanadium Resources) After months of wrangling, the federal government’s production […]

Australia’s reliance on imported oil exposes us to global shocks. More than 90% of our liquid fuel supply is imported, with refineries shutting down and our strategic reserves held offshore. By Tracey Graves in Pearls and Irritations Mar 4, 2025 The recent article by Christopher M. Johnson on Australia’s liquid fuel security risks underscores an […]

It might not look like it, but Pippa Buchanan’s house is, in many ways, a very modern type of power plant. By energy reporter Daniel Mercer Tue 18 Feb in abc.net.au Inside the shed at her property in Cowaramup, a rural town about 3 hours south of Perth in Western Australia, a small battery is […]

Media Release from Solutions for Climate Australia As the impacts of Cyclone Alfred begin to land on south east Queensland and northern New South Wales, it is clear that the eventual clean up bill will be in the billions of dollars. It’s past time that coal and gas corporations pay to clean up their mess. […]

Australia Institute Media Release Friday 7 February 2025 The revelation that many of Australia’s biggest companies have quit a government-run carbon offset scheme is real-world, real-time proof that carbon credits don’t work. Less than a week out from The Australia Institute’s 2025 Climate Integrity Summit, it’s been revealed that organisations like Telstra, Australia Post, PwC […]

“Albanese’s climate report card: ‘D for Delivery’ as progress stalls” The first term of the Albanese government has failed to deliver a promised transformation in Australia’s climate efforts. New government data shows just how bad the failures have been. MICHAEL MAZENGARB in Tempests and Terawatts MAR 01, 2025 see original article As the first term […]

Figure 2 shows that insurance prices have been increasing faster than general prices since 2015 and that this gap has increased significantly since 2022 in the wake of major flooding in eastern Australia. Research from the Actuaries Institute shows that nearly one in eight households – 1.25 million – suffer home insurance affordability stress and […]

By Emily Bissland ABC South West Vic Topic:Marine Biology Tuesday 18 February IMAGE IN ARTICLE Sponge gardens are colourful and diverse ecosystems deep on the ocean floor. (Supplied: Jarrod Boord) In short: Sea sponges are ancient animals that filter ocean water. Researchers are creating sponge nurseries to revitalise Apollo Marine Park. What’s next? Scientists hope […]

Our resident Stats Guy sings praises about the ever-helpful, two-wheeled contraptions that give us incidental exercise in droves. TD The New Daily Feb 17, 2025, updated Feb 17, 2025 In last week’s column I claimed to have been in a time machine as I spent time on a campground with the demographic setup of the […]

a, Schematics of the system during light-off night operation. b, Schematics of the overall system during light-on day operation. c, The carbon capture unit with chemical CO2 capture and release equations. d, The solar-driven CO2U unit material composition and the relevant reduction and oxidation reactions. RT, room temperature; MFC, mass flow controller; PEI, polyethyleneimine; PET, poly(ethylene terephthalate); EG, ethylene […]

Size doubled by government grant to 185 MW / 370 MWh. Image: Edify Energy LinkedIn Sophie Vorrath Feb 18, 2025 STORAGE in renew economy The Koorangie big battery has started exporting energy to the grid in north-west Victoria, with the project’s developer Edify Energy marking the “exciting milestone” for the 185 megwatt (MW), 370 megawatt-hour […]